Method for transposing railroad track rails



Jan. 28, 1969 F. L. STRIEBEL ETAL METHOD FOR TRANSPOSING RAILROAD TRACKRAILS Original Filed March 4, 1965 Sheet g of5 84 /96 INVENTORSFREDERICK L. STRIEBEL CLAUS R. GRAGE ATrYs Jan. 28, 1969 F. L. STRIEBELETAL 3,424,101

METHOD FOR TRANSPOSING RAILROAD TRACK RAILS Sheet 3 of 5 Original FiledMarch 4, 1965 INVEN TORS SSW F R VI 8 Jan. 28, 1969 F. 1.. STRIEBEL ETAL3,424,101

METHQD FOR TRANSPOSING RAILROAD TRACK RAILS Original Filed March 4, 1965Sheet 4 of 5 INVENTORS FREDERICK L. STRIEBEL CLAUS R. GRAGE BY mm mmkmuc v ATT Y5 Jan; 28, 1969 Original Filed March4, 1965 g g? 22 az 74;;W76 ,3 5

F. L. STRIEBEL ETAL. 3,424,101

METHOD FOR TRANSPOSING RAILROAD TRACK RAILS Sheet INVENTORS FREDERICK L.STRIEBEL CLAUS R.GRA6E United States Patent 3,424,101 METHOD FORTRANSPOSING RAILROAD TRACK RAILS Frederick L. Striebel, 806 Montana Ave,and Claus R. Grage, 803 Mitchel, both of Deer Lodge, Mont. 59722Original application Mar. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 437,222, now Patent No.3,332,357, dated July 25, 1967. Divided and this application Feb. 28,1967, Ser. No. 641,074 US. Cl. 104-2 6 Claims Int. Cl. E01b 29/17, 33/00ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure pertains to a method ofreversing the positions of track rails at railroad track curves, inaccordance with which the rail anchors along the curve are removed andthe rail ends at the curve tangents are disconnected to form the curverails into rail lengths consisting of a number of rails connectedtogether, the spikes from the inside of the curve rails are removedbetween the disconnected rail length ends, the gauge of the curve raillengths is narrowed sufllciently to draw the curve rails out from underthe spikes along the outside of the curve rails, the curve high and lowside rail lengths are simultaneously transposed to the opposite sides ofthe track, and then the transposed rail lengths are fitted intoalignment with and connected to the tangent rails, the transposed raillengths are moved outwardly into engagement with the outside spikesaround the high and low sides of the curve, and the spikes along theinsides of the transposed rail lengths and the rail anchors arereapplied.

This application is a division of our copending application Ser. No.437,222, filed Mar. 4, 1965, now Patent No. 3,332,357, granted July 25,1967.

Our invention relates to a method and apparatus for transposing railroadtrack rails of both the conventional jointed rail and welded rail types,and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for reversing trackrails between the high and low sides of curves or on tangents, or formoving both types of rails from temporary positions at the shoulder orcenter of the truck to their permanent location.

A desirable practice in prudent track maintenance procedures is toreverse, at the appropriate time, the positions of the track rails atrailroad curves, as this permits a significant increase in the usefullife of the rails. The rails on the low side of the curve, in use, tendto flatten out due to the increased proportion of the train weight thatthe low side rails carry, while the rails on the high side of the curvetend to narrow down due to the wearing action on the rails that iscaused by contact therewith of the truck wheel flanges under the actionof centrifugal force as the train rounds the curve. By transposing thehigh and low side rails about the curve the same action acts in reverseon the respective rails and permits further use of them for extendedperiods of time.

Our invention is particularly suited for performing the rail transposingat track curves.

Heretofore the transposing of rails at curves has been done bydisconnecting each individual rail from the ties and from adjacent railsand then using either a crane or a work crew employing lining bars toindividually move and set the rails in place. Obviously, these aretime-consuming and laborious procedures (especially since the rails fromone side of the track have to be lifted over the rails from the otherside), but they are long-standing practices that have defied improvementbecause of the bulk and unwieldiness of track rails.

3,424,101 Patented Jan. 28, 1969 A principal object of this invention isto provide a method and apparatus for transposing rails that permits thetransposition of long lengths of conventionally connected rails orwelded rail with a minimum of equipment and work force.

Another principal object of the invention is to provide a method andapparatus for transposing rails which effects rail transposition at theheretofore unheard of rate of on the order of one standard rail lengthper minute.

tA further object of the invention is to provide a rail threader devicefor use in transposing rails that permits long sections ofconventionally connected rail or welded rail to be simultaneouslytransposed at the same time.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a simplified and sturdyrail threader arrangement that may be attached to standard off the trackequipment such as bulldozers, front end loaders, cranes, tractors, andother self propelled equipment, to provide a method of transposing railsthat is of universal application insofar as railroad track curves areconcerned, and to provide a track transposing device that is economicalof manufacture, convenient in use, and readily adapted for applicationto a wide variety of standard track maintenance equipment.

Other objects, uses, and advantages will be obvious or become apparentfrom a consideration of the following detailed description and theapplication drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view showing a rail transposing devicearranged in accordance with this invention applied to the front end ofan endless track type bulldozer, showing the apparatus involved as itmay be employde in processing the track rails for exchange betweenopposite sides of track curves;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1, showing thefront end of the bulldozer in outline form;

FIGURE 3 is a rear perspective view of the apparatus shown in FIGURES land 2, as it is applied to the C-frame of the bulldozer;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view similar to that of FIGURE 2 but on a smallerscale and showing a rail threader unit of the general type shown inFIGURES 1 and 3 applied to the other side of the bulldozer C-frame;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view substantially along line 55 of FIGURE4 and on a slightly enlarged scale;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view substantially along line 6-6 ofFIGURE 4; and

FIGURES 714 are diagrammatic views illustrating the method of thisinvention for transposing rails along curves.

However, it to be clearly understood that the specific drawingillustrations provided are supplied primarily to comply with therequirements of 35 U.S.C., and that the invention may take otherspecific embodiments coming within the scope of the appended claims.

General description Reference numeral 10 of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 generallyindicates a rail threader device arranged in accordance with thisinvention applied to the conventional C-frame or bar 12 of endless tracktype bulldozer 14. As indicated in FIGURES 2 and 3, the threader device10 is positioned on one side of the bulldozer 14, while in thearrangement of FIGURES 4 and 5, a similar threader device 10A is appliedto the other side of a similar bulldozer 14A. The devices 10 and 10A areidentical except that they are arranged to be applied to opposite sidesof equipment such as bulldozer 14, and in accordance with thisinvention, two off-track pieces of equipment, such as bulldozers 14 and14A are employed to practice the method of this invention, with one ofthe bulldozers 14 carrying the threader device 10 and the otherbulldozer 3 14A carrying the threader device A (see FIGURE 11).

The threader device It) generally comprises a threader tube 16, having agenerally quadrilateral cross-sectional configuration, which ispivotally mounted on a generally quadrilateral bracket structure 18 thatis affixed to the side 20 of the C-frame 12.

The bracket structure 18 supports the rear end 22 of the threader tube16 while the forward end 24 of the threader tube is supported by abracket structure 26 that is secured to the forward or bite portion 28of the C-frame 12 and includes a shelf structure 28 on which the forwardend 24 of the threader tube .16 rests.

The bracket structure 26 comprises a vertically disposed plate structure30 secured to the C-frame by appropriate knuckle type securing devices32 and having an angled end portion 33 formed with a window opening 35through which the forward end 24 of the threader 'bar extends. The shelfstructure defines the under or bottom portion of the window opening 35that is affixed to the plate 30.

As indicated in FIGURES 1, 2 and 5, the forward end 24 of the threadertube 16 carries a hook structure 34 to which a pair of rail tongs 36 areconnected in practicing one phase of this invention. When the rail tongsare not in use, they may be suspended from the hook 38 at the outer endsof the bracket structure 26.

Further in accordance with this invention, the forward end 24 of thethreader tube is provided at its sides 40 and 42 with funnelling sideflange portions 44 and 46 (see FIGURE 2), respectively, and at itsbottom or floor portion 48, with a tunneling flange portion 50 (seeFIGURE 5).

The threader devices 10 and 10A each are provided with a pull cable 52having one end 54 thereof atfixed to an anchor plate 56 that is in turnmade fast, as by welding to the bracket structure 26.

The other end 58 of the pull cable 52 is provided with a hook 60 to holdthe cable in its inoperative position, as indicated in FIGURE 2 (whereinthe hook 60 is applied under a link 62 affixed to the C-frame), or tosecure the cable to a rail joint for pulling the rail in the mannerdescribed hereinafter in connection with the method of this invention.

The components of the device 10A that correspond to those of device 10are given similar reference numerals, as the parts are identical thoughreversed. However, the bracket structure 18 of device 10A is secured toside 21 of C-frame 12, and bracket structure 26 reversed inconfiguration accordingly.

The devices 10 and 10A are applied to separate bulldozers 14 or othersimilar self propelled equipment and employed in the manner indicated inFIGURES 7-14 to practice the method of this invention. FIGURES 5 and 6illustrate corresponding parts of both devices 10 and 10A.

Referring now to FIGURES 714, assuming that it is desired to transposethe conventionally joined track rails of a particular curve, such as thecurve shown at 70 in FIGURES 11 and 12, between the high and low sides72 and 74 of the curve 70', the track rail anchors (shown in diagramform at 76 in FIGURE 7) are removed along the curved rails to 'betransposed, and this includes all such anchors 76 up to the first railjoints in the tangent track portions 78 and 80' at either end of thetrack curve 70.

For convenience of description, these said first joints are indicated atA, B, C and D in FIGURES 11 and 12.

Also, the joint bars (shown diagrammatically at 82 in FIGURE 7) areremoved from the rail joints A, B, C and D, thus disconnecting the curverails from the tangent rails and forming continuous lengths of connectedrails, that prior to transposition form the high and low sides of thecurve, respectively, and thus define rail sectors 84 and 86 on eitherside of the track bed.

In practice, it is also desirable to divide the sectors 84 and 86comprising the original high and low side track rails into subsectionsof approximately ten rails in length, and this is done by disconnectingjoint bars 82 at every tenth rail joint along the high and low sides ofthe track.

Also, at all rail joints between joints A and C, and between joints Band D, respectively, the signal bond wires should be knocked off orremoved in any con venient manner.

The rail joints that are to be removed may be conveniently removed byemploying conventional bolt machines that disconnect the nuts from theends of the joint bolts involved, or in any other suitable manner.

In addition, the track spikes along the inside of the rail sectors 84and 86, between the rail joints A and C along the track sector 84, andbetween the rail joints B and D along the track sector 86 are removed.These spikes are indicated at 88 in FIGURE 7, and as indicated in FIGURE7, the outside track spikes 89 are left in place in accordance with thisinvention.

The spike removal may be done by hand using the usual hand tools, or itmay be done more conveniently 'by employing a conventional mechanicalspike puller of any suitable type.

The foregoing procedures may be affected in any convenient order.Similar procedures are used to prepare welded rail for transposingexcept that the rails are cut at joints A, B, C and D to form the railsectors 84 and 86, and the lack of joint bars eliminates the handlingpertaining to same that is mentioned.

The next step of the method is diagrammatically illustrated in FIGURE 8and calls for tilting the rails of the rail sectors 84 and 86 outwardlyof the track to raise and block the inside edge 90 of each rail base 92sufficiently so that when the rail sectors 84 and 86 are furtherprocessed in accordance with this invention, they will not strike theinner tie plate shoulders and displace the ties. This step is notnecessary where the tie plates along the curve do not have innershoulders.

This tilting and blocking action may be conveniently performed bypressing the heads 94 of the rails involved outwardly of the track asrequired to lift the inside edges 90 of the rail bases high enough toinsert a railroad spike or a track anchor between the rail bases andtheir underlying ties 95. We prefer to do this at about every half raillength lengthwise of the individual subdivisions of sectors 84 and 86that are formed as previously described.

The rail tilting action referred to may be performed in any suitablemanner, and purely for illustrative purposes FIGURE 8 shows a power unit96 mounted on an attachment bar 98 that is secured to the C-frame ofbulldozer 14B, which bulldozer may be considered the same as thebulldozer 14 previously described, although any other suitable piece ofequipment will do. The power unit 96 is shown to include a pair of rammembers 99 that are operated in any suitable manner to force the railheads outwardly in the manner suggested in FIGURE 8.

The showing of unit 96 is provided purely for purposes of illustrationas any comparable piece of equipment may be employed which will havesuitable power means for serving the purposes of rams 99 to tilt therails outwardly sufiiciently to permit a rail anchor 76 or a rail spike88 to be inserted between the rail base and the underlying cross tieplate, after which the power unit 96 is actuated to retract the rams 99so that the rail bases will be resting on the blocking rail spikes onanchors. The blocking spikes or anchors are preferably placed at aboutevery twelfth tie on top of the inner tie plate shoulder, and, ofcourse, under the inside base of the rails.

In practice, the machine employed for this purpose may be a conventionalWollery tie end pusher, made by the Wollery Machine Company ofMinneapolis, Minnesota,

which has its tie end pusher bar modified at each end to engage againstthe gauge sides of the rail sectors 84 and 86. Obviously, in perforningthe steps illustrated in FIG- URE 8, the rails of the respective railsectors may be tilted outwardly either simultaneously or consecutively,depending upon the type of device used, and as indicated in FIG- URE 8,the outside spikes 89 prevent the rails from sliding laterally of thetrack while performing this part of our method.

After the rail sectors 84 and 86 have been tilted outwardly, and blockedin the manner described immediately above, they are moved toward thecenter of the track sufiiciently to position their bases out from underthe outside track spikes 89 (see FIGURE 9) and over the inside shouldersof the tie plates.

In the diagrammatic showing of FIGURE 9, power unit 110 has beenillustrated to achieve this purpose comprising an attachment bar 112that may be afiixed in any suitable manner to the C-frame of a bulldozer14C (or to the C-fr ame of bulldozer 143 in place of the unit 96).Attachment bar 112 carries a pair of rail engaging arms 114 that may bepivotally secured in place as at 116 and formed at their lower ends 118to engage the outside of the respective rail heads 94. The arms 114 areconnected by appropriate links 120 to a suitable thrust applyingmechanism 122 that may employ hydraulics or the like to draw the arms114 inwardly of the track rails (and thus toward each other) to positionthe track sectors at the narrowed gauge necessary for them to have theoutside edges 124 of the rail sector bases positioned inwardly of thetie plates (not shown). Once this gauge setting of arms 114 is set, thebulldozer 14C may be moved down the track to in effect cam the trackrails to the narrowed gauge indicated for the full length of therespective track sectors 84 and 86 or the subdivisions thereof that arementioned above.

In practice, the step illustrated by FIGURE 9 may be performed byemploying a conventional bulldozer and applying on its earth movingblade a pair of depending bars that are spaced apart to provide thegauge desired when such bars are cammed against the outside of therails. At like ends of the sectors 84 and 86 the rail sector ends aremoved toward each other by lining bars sufficiently to position themwithin or between the depending bars of the bulldozer blade, after whichthe bulldozer is moved the length of the rail sectors with the bars inengagement with the outer heads of the rail sectors and this effects acontinuous re-gauging of the rail sectors along the lengths thereof.

These procedures leave the rail sectors 84 and 86 disposed between thetie plates ready for the actual rail transposition process, which bringsinto use the threader devices 10 and 10A on their respective bulldozers14 and 14A. The transposition process will be described with referenceto the showing of FIGURE 11, and in this connection, it is pointed outthat in the showing of FIGURE 11 the transposition procedure is wellalong in process.

The bulldozer 14 carrying the threader device 10 is then positionedadjacent joint B and oriented so that its front end faces in thedirection of the arrow 130 of FIG- URE 11. The bulldozer 14 should bepositioned with respect to the track bed to dispose its threader device16 adjacent the rail sector 84 side of the track, and the end 132 of thetrack sector 86 at joint B is moved sidewise of the track bed intosubstantial alignment with the threader 16 longitudinally of the track.

The rail tongs 36 are then applied to the hook structure 34 of thethreader 14 in the manner indicated in FIGURE 1 and the C-frame ofbulldozer 14 is lowered to permit the rail tongs to be engaged with therail end 132 of sector 86 in the manner indicated in FIGURE 1, afterwhich the bulldozer power mechanism is actuated to lift the C-frame asrequired to dispose the rail end 132 within the vertical operating rangeof the threader tube 16; rail end 132 is then blocked up in thiselevated position by placing a piece of tie or the like underneath therail end and resting the rail end on it.

After the rail end is lowered onto the blocking arrangement provided forit, the rail tongs are removed and replaced onto hook 38. The bulldozeris then maneuvered to align the forward end of threader tube 16horizontally and vertically with the rail end 132, and then thebulldozer 14 is moved in the direction with respect to the rail sectors84 and 86 to slide the rail threader 10 along the rail sector 86.

The bulldozer 14 at its starting position is thus adjacent joint B andis disposed so that its threader device 16 will be aligned with andreceive the rail end 132 of rail sector 86 in the manner indicated. Asthe bulldozer 14 moves in the direction of arrow 130 to its positionshown in FIGURE 11, the rail sector 86 feeds through the threader device10 and drops down to a position on the track side outwardly of the railsector 84. We prefer that the operator of the bulldozer 14 operate hismachine to drop the rail end 132 on the tie plates (and inwardly ofspikes 89 thereof) that were formerly occupied by the rail sector 84prior to the rail sector 84 having been moved inwardlv towards the railsector 86.

As soon as the bulldozer 14 is moved down the track curve sufiicientlytowards the rail joints C and D to be out of the way, bulldozer 14A ismoved into position to dispose its rail threader device 10A adjacent thetrack rail joint A, although the threader device 10A should bepositioned on the track side where sector 86 originally lay (and thusadjacent the tangent rail that was formerly connected to the rail sector86). The end 133 of the rail sector 84 that formed part of rail joint Ais then moved sidewise of the track into substantial alignment with therail threader device 10A, after which this rail end is blocked up in themanner previously described in connection with rail end 132 forreception into threader device 10A. The bulldozer 14A is then maneuveredto start the threader device 10A along the rail sector 84 by moving thebulldozer 14A in the direction of arrow 130 to feed the end of the railsector 84 under consideration through the threader 10A, with thebulldozer operator maneuvering his device to drop the end 133 of therail sector 84 at the rear of the bulldozer 14A as closely as possibleto the tangent rail at joint B. As the bulldozer 14A moves on in thedirection of the arrow 130, the bulldozer operator maneuvers his vehicleso that the rail forming sector 84 drops on top of the tie plates thatwere formerly occupied by the rail sector 86 (but inwardly of the spikes89 of such tie plates).

Both bulldozers 14 and 14A then move consecutively around the trackcurve and thus simultaneously feed and thereby transpose the low siderail sector 86 to the curve high side and the high side rail sector 84to the curve low side with rail sector 86 passing over rail sector 84.Where the rail sectors 84 and 86 are subdivided, as suggested above,these subdivisions are handled consecutively starting at one end of thecurve and moving towards the other end, with each new sector subdivisionbeing started by employing the rail end aligning and blocking stepsdescribed in connection with rail end 132.

After the rail sectors 84 and 86 have been transposed, the next step ofour method involves fitting the ends of the respective sectors 84 and 86up with the respective tangent rail ends of joints A, B, C and D, andproviding the necessary adjustments as to the length to accomplish this(which are required due to the fact that length of railage around 'acurve high side is longer than the railage around the low side).

After the threader devices 10 and 10A have been operated by therespective bulldozers 14 and 14A to transpose the rail sectors 84 and86, respectively, the rail sectors 84 and 86 if processed as describedwill be positioned somewhat as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG- URE12, wherein there is a gap at between the tangent rail at joint A andthe end 132 of rail sector 7 86, while at the other end 135 of the railsector 86, there is an overlapping of the rail sector 86 with theadjacent tangent rail at joint C. Also, there is a gap at 142 betweenthe tangent rail at joint D and the corresponding end .137 of the railsector 84, and the rail sector 84 overlaps the tangent rail at joint B.

It is necessary that the rail sectors 84 and 86 be pulled lengthwisethereof to bring end 132 of sector 86 up into abutting relation with thetangent rail end at joint A, and to bring end 137 of sector 84 up intoabutting relation with the tangent rail at joint D.

When this has been done, it will be found that the sector 84 stilloverlaps the tangent rail at joint B; and the sector 84 is then trimmedat this end as required to secure properly sector 84 to the rail tangentat joint B.

It will be found that rail sector 86 will require an additional lengthof rail to complete a gap between its end 135 and the tangent rail atjoint C, and this may be supplied in any convenient manner. If the railportion removed to make rail sector 84 fit is carefully formed, thisportion may be em loyed to fill the gap at joint C.

The movement of the rail sectors 84 and 86 may be accomplished in anysuitable manner, as by securing pull cable 52 of either of the railthreader devices to a convenient rail joint adjacent the respective ends132 and 137 of the respective rail sectors, and then actuating thebulldozer involved to pull the rail sector the distance required.

The pulling operation in practice is preferably done on the respectiverail sectors while the rail remains in the threader tube. In the case ofrail sector 86, as soon as bulldozer 14 has moved sufficiently in thedirection of arrow 130 to dispose sector end 132 adjacent the track tieplates (after being fed through threader 16) pull cable 52 may beapplied to a convenient rail joint in front of device 16 and thebulldozer backed up the amount required to bring end 132 up to properfit with the tangent rail at joint A. In the case of rail sector 84,when bulldozer14A nears the end 137, the cable 52 of device 16A may beattached to a convenient rail joint rearwardly of device 16A and thebulldozer 14A moved forwardy to slide rail sector 84- the amountrequired to make the required fit at joint D.

Where further adjustment is required after the rail sectors have droppedfrom the respective threader devices, the pull cable 52 may be employedto pull the rail sector in question either forwardly or rearwardly ofthe direction of movement of the bulldozers that is diagrammaticallyshown in FIGURE 11. Rearward movement may be accomplished by stretchingthe pull cable 52 out forwardly of the bulldozer and hooking the hook 60onto a convenient rail joint, after which the bulldozer is movedrearwardly thereof; forward movement of the rail may be accomplished bypositioning the pull cable 52 over the back of blade structure 26 alongthe lines suggested in FIGURE 2 and then attaching it to a convenientrail joint, after which the bulldozer is moved in a forward direction.

After the ends of the respective rail sectors 84 and 86 have beenproperly aligned with and fitted in between the tangent rail ends atjoints A, B, C and D, the joint bars 82 are reapplied, and this may bedone in any conventional manner, and preferably a suitable bolt machineis employed to handle the joint bolt nuts.

It may be pointed out that in this position of the rails about the curve70, the rail sectors 84 and 86 will be positioned somewhat inwardly ofthe standard gauge, and the adjacent ends of the tangent rails may alsohave to be moved inwardly of the track slightly to make the jointsrequired at joints A, B, C and D. This may require removal of somespikes at the tangents for a short distance away from the curve atjoints A, B, C and D.

In the meantime, the spike holes of the inner spikes about the curvethat have been removed should be plugged in a conventional manner toinsure a firm anchor- 8 age for reapplication of the spikes. This may bedone at any convenient time when the spike holes are available forprocessing.

The next step in the procedure is diagrammatically illustrated in FIGURE13, and this involves pushing the track rails about the curve againstthe outside spikes 89 to seat same in the tie plates. For this purpose,the diagrammatically illustrated device 96 of FIGURE 8 may be employedfor this purpose, with the rams 99 of device 96 engaging the webs of therespective rails, as shown in FIGURE 13. To perform this operation, thebulldozer 14D which is shown as carrying device 96 mounted on itsC-frame, may start at one end of the curve 70 and engage the curve railsin the manner indicated at about every half track length or more asrequired to firmly seat the rails between the tie plate shoulders andunder and against the outside spikes 89.

Alternately, the Wollery machine of the general type above described andhaving its tie end pusher bar ends appropriately modified to engage therail webs may be employed to perform this operation.

After this, the inside spikes 88 are reapplied along the inside edges ofboth the track sectors and the rail anchors 76 are reapplied in theusual manner as indicated by FIGURE 14. Also, new signal bond wires areapplied across joints A, B, C and D and elsewhere as required.

Specific description As previously indicated, the bulldozers 14 and 14Amay be of any conventional type, and in a practical application of thisinvention two model D-6 Caterpillar tractors were used as bulldozers 14and 14A.

In this type of equipment, the C-frame 12 is pivotally connected to thetractor frame as at (see FIGURE 4), and the C-frame is raised andlowered by telescoping hydraulic jack devices 162 that are operablysecured to the tractor frame and to the C-frame as at 164 in anyconvenient and conventional manner for the purpose of actuating theC-frame. Hydraulic jack devices 162 are extensible and contractable innature and the extensing and contracting movement is provided byfunctioning of appropriate hydraulic equipment under the control ofsuitable hydraulic controls, all of which are well-known in the art. .1

However, the bracket structures 18 and 26 may also be arranged formounting on other types of off-track equipment, as will be obvious tothose skilled in the art, although they should be mounted to permit thethreader tube 16 to be raised and lowered as described above. Where theoff-track equipment does not have a C-frame or other lever type mountingstructure equivalent to the illustrated C-frame 12, it is preferable toprovide one, or some other equivalent mechanism on which to mount thethreader devices 16.

As indicated in FIGURES 1-5, the threader tube 16 has an open endedbox-like configuration of generally quadrilateral transversecross-sectional configuration and may be formed by side plates and 172affixed to top and bottom plates 174 and 176 in any suitable manner asby welding. The bottom plate 176 has afiixed thereto a stub shaft 178which is journalled in the bracket structure 18 for the above describedpivotal movement of the threader tube.

The funneling flange portions 44, 46 and 50 at the forward end 24 of thethreader tube may be formed by welding in place appropriately shapedplate segments, substantially as shown in the drawings.

The hook structure 34 in the specific forms illustrated comprises anangle member 180 positioned to extend transversely of the threader tubeand having its longitudinally extending edges 182 and 184 welded to thetop plate 174 of the threader tube. A cantilever bar 186 has one end 188thereof afiixed to the top plate 174 of the threader tube and restsagainst the angle member 180 as at 190, the bar being afiixed in placeas by welding at the places indicated. The forwardly extending end 192of the bar 186 has aflixed to its top surface 194 a loop segment 196which is positioned to have its ends 198 extend upwardly, and it isproportioned to be received through the end link 200 of a short chain202 that forms a part of the rail tong device 36. Bar 186 may beappropriately reinforced, as by welding a stiifner bar 201 along its topsurface.

The rail tong device 36 comprises in addition to the chain 202 a pair oflevers 204 and 206 that are pivotally connected by pin 208 and areprovided with jaws 210 and 212, respectively, that are proportioned toengage under either side of rail heads. Pivotally secured to each lever204 and 206 are links 214 and 216 that are received in link 218 of chain202.

The jaws 210 and 212 of the rail tong device 36 tend to close over andagainst the rail head when the chain 202 is lifted. The lifting actionon the chain 202 effects a pivotal action on the respective levers 204and 206 tending to swing them about pin 208 to close the jaws on therail head, as will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the art.

The bracket structure 18 in the specific form illustrated comprises apair of side plate members 220 and 222 affixed as by welding to a bottomplate member 224 and a top plate member 226.

The bottom plate member 224 is perforated as at 228 to receive the stubshaft 178 for purposes of journalling the threader tube 16 for itsindicated pivotal movement.

The side plate 222 has atfixed thereto as by welding a pair of laterallyextending bracket members 230 and 232 (see FIGURE 6) that are spacedapart to receive between them the side 20 of the C-frame 12. The bracketmembers 230 and 232 should be proportioned to overhang the C-framesufiiciently as at 234 to permit the formation of bolt holes in them forreceiving suitable locking bolts 236 for the purpose of clamping bracketmembers 230 and 232 to the top and bottom surfaces of the C-frame side20.

The top plate 226 of bracket structure 18 may be provided with suitablereinforcing plates 240.

The bracket structure 26 comprises the aforementioned plate structure 30which may be in the form af a plate 250 of a suitable gauge (boilerplating gauge will be satisfactory) which is provided with spaced pairsof lugs 252, 254 and 256 that are spaced apart to receive between themlugs 258, 260 and 262 that are aflixed to the C- frame 20.

The respective pairs of lugs 252, 254, 256, and the lugs 258, 260, 262that they cooperate with form the knuckle type securing devices 32 andsaid lugs are formed with suitable holes that are aligned to receiveboth the respective bolts 264, 266 that secure the respective lugstogether.

The shelf structure 28 comprises a plate 270 extending across the bottomof the window 35, and the top surface 272 of plate 270 forms a Wearsurface for the threader tube 16.

The anchor or mounting plate 56 of pull cable 52 is aflixed in placebetween plate structure 26 and its shelf forming plate 270 in anysuitable manner as by welding.

At the other side of the window opening 35, a vertically disposed plate280 is fixed between plate 270 and the upper portion of plate structure26. The plates 56 and 280 define the side limits of the horizontalswinging action of the threader tube 16, which as indicated in thedrawings should be on the order of 20 degrees toward either side of thevehicle.

The hook 38 on which the rail tongs 36 hang is affixed to the outwardlyfacing surface 282 of the side plate 280 in any suitable manner, as bywelding.

It will therefore be seen that we have provided a method and device fortransposing curve rails which effects the changeover of the curve railsbetween the high and low sides of the curve with a minimum of labor andequipment while at the same time holding to a minimum the amount ofdismantlement of the track and permitting the use of conventional typesof maintenance equipment that may be available. The threader device issimplified but effective, and is adapted for attachment to a widevariety of offtrack equipment for use in accordance with the method.

While rail threaders have been employed for other purposes heretofore,they have not been considered successful in threading long lengths ofconnected rails because of the difficulty of getting the rail jointsthrough the threader. The device of our invention readily receives therail joints as well as the rail lengths and even though no rollers orother antifriction type devices are employed as part of our railthreader, the gravel and pebbles that are carried into the threader bythe rail tend to serve the same purpose between the rail flange and thebottom plate of the threader. The threader tube funnelling side portions44 and 46 guide the rail joints into the bore of the threader in theevent that the rail comes into close adjacency with one side of thethreader tube.

Where the track in question uses welded rail construction, it ispreferred that the entire rail segment about the curve be fed throughthe threader, rather than dividing the rail segment into sections.However, suitable joints will have to be made in the tangents adjacentthe curve.

Apparatus arranged as described herein in practice has been found toperform the rail transposing step at a rate on the order of a raillength per minute (assuming a normal rail length of thirty-nine feet).

While the invention has been described and illustrated in connectionwith transposing rails at curves, the same apparatus and methods may beapplied to the transposing of tangent rails, although the fact that thelengths of tangent rail on both sides of the track will ordinarilyminimize, if not eliminate, the rail trimming and adding that will beinvolved.

The foregoing description and the drawings are given merely to explainand illustrate our invention and the invention is not to be limitedthereto, since those skilled in the art who have our disclosure beforethem will be able to make modifications and variations therein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. The method of servicing track rails which includes:

removing the rail anchors from the track rails to be serviced anddisconnecting the ends of the track rails to be serviced at both ends ofsuch rails,

removing the rail spikes from the inside of the rails being servicedbetween their disconnected rail ends,

narrowing the gauge of the rails being serviced sufficiently to move therails being serviced out from under the spikes along the outside of suchrails,

transposing the disconnected rails of one side of the track to theoperative position of the rails on the other side of the track andtransposing the rails of said other side of the track to the operativeposition of the rails formerly on said one side of said track,

fitting the transposed rails into alignment with the track railsadjacent each and securing the transposed rails to their adjacent rails,

moving the transposed rails into engagement with the outside spikesalong the track rails being serviced,

and applying spikes along the inside of the rails being serviced andapplying rail anchors to the rails being serviced.

2. The method of servicing track rails at curves which includes:

removing the rail anchors from the rails along the curve anddisconnecting the rail ends at the curve tangents at both ends of thecurve to form the curve rails into rail lengths consisting of a numberof rails connected together,

removing the rail spikes from the inside of the curve rails between thedisconnected rail ends,

narrowing the gauge of the curve rails sufiiciently to draw the curverails out from under the spikes along the outside of the curve rails,

simultaneously transposing the curve high and low side rail lengths tothe opposite sides of the track about the curve,

fitting the transposed rail lengths into alignment with the tangentrails and securing the transposed rail lengths to the tangent rails,

moving the transposed rails into engagement with the outside spikesaround the high and low sides of the curve,

and applying spikes along the inside of the transposed rails andapplying rail anchors to the curve rails.

3. The method set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said transposing step includes moving rail threaders lengthwiseof-respective rail lengths to feed the respective rail lengths fromtheir original positions to their transposed positions.

4. The method set forth in claim 2 wherein:

for long curves the rail lengths at the high and low sides of a curveare divided into segments of approximately 10 rails each, and saidlength segments are consecutively subjected to said transposing stepabout the curve.

5. The method set forth in claim 2 wherein:

prior to the gauge narrowing step, the curve rails are tilted outwardlyof the track bed.

6. The method of servicing track rails at curves employing a pair ofvehicles each having secured thereto a rail threader on opposite sidesthereof, which method includes:

removing the rail anchors from the rails along the curve anddisconnecting the rail ends at the curve tangents at both ends of thecurve to form the curve rails into rail lengths consisting of a numberof rails connected together,

removing the rail spikes from the inside of the curve rails between thedisconnected rail ends,

narrowing the gauge of the curve rails sufficiently to draw the curverails out from under the spikes along the outside of the curve rails,

positioning one of the vehicles adjacent like ends of the rail lengthsand applying to the threader of said one vehicle the rail end of therail length that is on the side of said vehicle which is opposite tosaid sides thereof, moving the said one vehicle along the track totranspose the rail length being threaded to the opposite side of thetrack,

moving the other vehicle to said rail length like ends and applying toits threader the adjacent rail end of the other rail length, move theother vehicle along the track to transpose the rail length it isthreading to the opposite side of the track,

fitting the transposed rail lengths into alignment with the tangentrails and securing the transposed rails to the tangent rails,

moving the transposed rails into engagement with the outside spikesaround the high and low sides of the curve,

and applying spikes along the inside of the transposed rails andapplying rail anchors to the curve rails.

References Cited Railway Engineering & Maintenance Cyclopedia (1948),7th edition, p. 384.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. lO4-7

